Table of Contents

Timeline of Earth-4 (1980s to present)

1980

Bruce Barlow, brilliant young scientist and so-called “conqueror of the planets,” combats menaces to the Earth, taking him to Saturn, the center of the Earth, and Venus. Note: This series, written in 1940, was set in the then-far-off year of 1980. Although the technology for interplanetary travel shown in this series is still too advanced for 1980, this series is still conceivably possible, although events would have to be much more secretive than depicted. [Whirlwind Comics #1-3]

June, 1980

A boy named Bobby Caswell is magically transformed into the super-powered action hero Thunderbunny and begins adventures as an action-hero in Boston. Note: Although his first adventure is not published until 1981, Thunderbunny's origin is stated to take place during the summer of 1980. [“The Sound of Thunder,” Charlton Bullseye v2 #6]

July, 1980

During the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the long-rumored existence of the Soviet hero Redstar is revealed to the world. Captain Atom teams up with Redstar to battle the invasion of the Space Prowlers, and Captain Atom saves Redstar's life by transferring the subdermal layer of liquid metal that shields his radiation to Redstar's body. Captain Atom then returns to his original chainmail costume made of diulustel. Note: This explains why Captain Atom is back in his original costume in a 1982 story from Charlton Bullseye v2 #7. Sometime after that story and before 1983's Americomics Special #1, Captain Atom is again treated with a subdermal layer of radiation-proof liquid metal, and he returns to his post-1966 look. [“Sentinels of Justice: The Calm Before the Storm”]

October, 1980

A powerful she-demon quickly eliminates all male action heroes, leaving only female action heroes behind. Caroline Dean dons her Liberty Belle costume once more to lead an all-female team comprised of herself, Nightshade, Nova, the Bionic Woman, Phantom Lady, and Tyger. The team, calling itself Femme Force One, defeats the she-demon in a single case, returning the male action heroes. Note: The name of the unofficial team remains Femme Force One, but people usually call it FemForce. The team does not have regular meetings or cases, only banding together when absolutely necessary. [speculation based on Femzine #1]

1981

February, 1981

Ms. Michael Tree, private investigator, has her first public case in Chicago after her husband Michael Tree is murdered. Note: Ms. Tree exists on Earth-4 because of her association with Michael Mauser. In her normal continuity, Ms. Tree is the daughter of Dragnet's Joe Friday, but on Earth-4 her father is his counterpart, Sgt. Joe Pride of the Racket Squad. Ms. Tree's name before her marriage was Michael Pride. [Eclipse, the Magazine #1]

March, 1981

Blue Beetle III and the Question return and team up against a villain known as the Enigma, who Blue Beetle III had put in prison for ten years. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #1]

August, 1981

The Vanguards (Celestra, Corona, and Cerebra), in a single adventure, battle the evil Overlords (Nightmare, Arcturos, and Killstar) in the Alpha star system, which contains three inhabited planets engaged in civil war. The rebels, called the Alphasquad and led by the Vanguards, overthrow the Overlords and free the Alpha star system. The Overlords escape to Earth. Note: Presumably some time after this story the Overlords were pursued by the Vanguards to Earth, where a battle ensued, but this has not yet been shown to happen. Cerebra is the sole survivor of a race of psionics from the planet Onym in the Alpha star system; however, it is possible that Onym is the same planet that Cy Key (Mastermind) comes from, meaning that they are the sole survivors of their species. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #4]

A super-powered action hero named Guardian has a single case. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #4]

December, 1981

In Boston, Thunderbunny saves a construction worker's life, and he recalls how he first became the action-hero. [“The Sound of Thunder,” Charlton Bullseye v2 #6]

Michael Mauser resumes his private detective work, still assisted by his secretary, Rosie Redd (her last appearance). Note: At some point over the next year, Rosie Redd quits her secretary position at the Mauser Detective Agency to join the NYPD. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #6]

1982

Bruce Barlow invents the interstellar drive, although it remains classified until the next century. Note: This is a speculation based on a reference in Space Adventures #38 that states the interstellar drive was invented in 1982, coupled with the fact that Barlow is the only spacefaring scientist living at this point in time.

February, 1982

Captain Atom returns, now in his original costume and under the command of Gen. Wade Wolfe. After Wolfe sells him out to extraterrestrials, Captain Atom quits the U.S. military. Note: After this case, Captain Atom breaks off his engagement to Janet Rogers, abandons his original costume and returns to the metal-based costume he used in the late 1960s. Gen. Wade Wolfe is court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the military for his actions, and Gen. Clinton Eining regains his role as head of the Captain Atom Project after he and Jeff “Gunner” Goslin coax Captain Atom back into the military. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #7]

Nightshade returns and battles her returning foe, the Ghost. Note: While she began her career as a CIA agent, this story shows that Eve Eden has since joined the OSI (now called the Office of Special Investigations), the same organization that has employed bionic agents Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers. Eve's handler or immediate superior is Agent Rocky Lane, who is likely related to (or possibly the same person as) the Rocky Lane of the Old West. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #7]

April, 1982

[Charlton Bullseye v2 #8]

August, 1982

Golden Lad comes out of suspended animation after 36 years when the Minstrel forgets to pay the Keeper. Fighting alongside Thunderbunny on a single case, he is shot by an energy cannon and instantly ages from his preserved 14-year-old form to an old man. He falls unconscious and is taken away to the hospital, but not until he tells Thunderbunny about the Keeper and the other golden age heroes the villain is keeping captive. Note: Golden Lad is referred to as Golden Kid in this story. Only a few heroes are pictured (none Charlton or Earth-4 characters); they include Bulletman, the Spirit, Miss Fury, and Blackhawk. The actual heroes kept captive by the Keeper are their closest visual Earth-4 counterparts: Torpedo Man (or Dynamo), the Grey Mask, Black Venus, and the Golden Eagle, and other heroes who disappeared unaccountably in the 1940s. [Charlton Bullseye v2 #10]

September, 1982

Thunderbunny and Captain Atom team up to defend Boston from alien invaders. The Sentinels of Justice also arrive to battle the invaders. Note: In the second Thunderbunny story in Charlton Bullseye v2 #10, there is a reference to an upcoming story featuring Thunderbunny and Captain atom battling aliens in Boston. This story was never published by Charlton, but a modified version of the story was later published in Blue Ribbon Comics (Archie) v2 #13. [speculation]

October, 1982

The Sentinels of Justice (Captain Atom, Blue Beetle III, Nightshade, and the Question, as well as the Peacemaker, Son of Vulcan, and Tyger) travel to the parallel universes of Earth-1 and Earth-2, where they meet those worlds' Justice League of America and Justice Society of America. The Sentinels, the JLA, and the JSA team up to stop a plan by the rulers of Earth-4's Land of the Nightshades, Earth-2's Fairyland, and Earth-1's Magic Land to conquer all three parallel Earths. Amongst the super-villains that the Sentinels and the other teams fight are the Ghost, Doctor Spectro, Major Force, Punch and Jewelee, the Madmen, and the Squids. At the conclusion of this case, Doctor Fate causes everyone on all three Earths and related dimensions to forget that this case occurred at all. [“Justice Society of America: Times Past, 1982: Crisis on Earth-Four”]

November, 1982

A bank teller from Central City, Iowa, named David Carson unwittingly travels to the Fifth Plane, where he learns he is Lord Cumulus, ruler and protector of that dimension's Fen-Ra. There, Lord Cumulus defends Fen-Ra against the evil Prince Chaos. Lord Cumulus is assisted by the wizard Lugulbanda and the immortal female warrior Sargon, mistress of war. Note: The events and characters of First Comics' Warp series (and possibly some other characters in the First Comics universe) exist on Earth-4 thanks to a crossover story in E-Man (First) #13. [Warp #1, based on the Warp! sci-fi stage plays by Stuart Gordon and Bury St. Edmund]

December, 1982

As his secret identity of Alec Tronn, E-Man officially becomes Michael Mauser's partner at the Mauser Detective Agency. Nova Kane breaks off her relationship with E-Man, secretly resenting being turned into an energy-being and wanting to be with a human man instead of an alien man-child. [E-Man (First) #1, 6]

E-Man and Nova return and begin adventures. Nova Kane is still attending Xanadu University as an archeology student. E-Man, Nova, and Mauser defeat the latest plan of the Brain of Sirius, which survived its earlier supposed death. [E-Man (First) #1]

Assisted by the wizard Lugulbanda of Fen-Ra, the Princess Paragwen travels to New York City from another dimension in pursuit of the powerful Masque of Mottagamma, which becomes a two-barreled gun in Earth's dimension. There, she stops a criminal who uses the gun to kill a police officer and who tries to assassinate a politician. She and her assistants, the Faceless Ones lent to her by Lugulbanda, pursue the Masque to another dimension. [Warp #2]

1983

January, 1983

Private investigator Roger Loring becomes the action hero known as the Scythe in order to investigate the murders of other private detectives. [Ms. Tree's Thrilling Detective Adventures #2]

Dr. Ford Fairmont, the blind chief executive officer of Para-Sight Industries who is also an inventor and comic-book aficionado, recreates his favorite comic book characters in real-life by kidnapping young mutants and turning them into thinly veiled caricatures of Marvel Comics' X-Men characters, whom he calls the F-Men. He creates Zitpops (Snott Slummers), Drizzle (Ororeo), the Weasel (Hooligan), Slimesquirmer (Kurt Angstner), Clodhoppus (Peter Raskolnikov), and Airhead (Kitty Pron). Fairmont then has the F-Men capture Nova and turns her into the Albatross (Jean Beige). Meanwhile, the comic-book publishing company that owns the trademark first hires the criminal Masternose to kidnap Nova, and then creates the Revengers (Mindquake, Hussy, and Hamfist) to kidnap the F-Men. After an extensive battle, in which Nova undergoes further character changes (the Black Princess and Dark Albatross), Nova uses Fairmont's mutant energizer facility to remove all her powers and change herself back into a normal human woman again, Fairmont signs a contract reneging all rights to the F-Man, and Michael Mauser returns all the former F-Men members to their respective parents. Happy to be a normal woman again, Nova Kane stops dating other guys and begins to renew her relationship with E-Man. Note: Since the “mutant energizer facility” doesn't have the power to either grant or remove super-powers, but instead only imprints a psychological profile on someone, Nova is a normal woman again only because she believes she is normal. In fact, she will eventually restore her ability to access her powers when the Crisis on Infinite Earths occurs, and when she needs them most. Other than Katherine “Kitty” Pron, the F-Men's real names are unknown, since the names they use are all caricatures of fictional characters. [E-Man (First) #2-3]

February, 1983

Charles David Grant uses his complete power over his molecular structure to become the action hero Mister Jigsaw, man of a thousand parts, and has a single case in his home of Portland, Maine. [Scary Tales #38]

March, 1983

Blue Beetle III battles and disables an android that appears to be Blue Beetle II but is in fact a prototype super-android created by Jarvis Kord to be more intelligent and human-looking than the older models. Note: This story reveals that Ted Kord and Daniel Northrup Garrett were roommates in college. [Americomics #3]

April, 1983

The original Blue Beetle returns when Dan Garret, as young as ever, comes out of a coma-like state and joins CIB (Central Intelligence Bureau) as an agent. Blue Beetle III learns that the original Blue Beetle is alive and well. Note: This story reveals that Ted Kord is also a CIB agent at this time. Ted Kord resigns from CIB after this story. This story also reveals that two mysterious gods are behind the original Blue Beetle's heroic career, probably explaining why he is eternally young and why his powers began increasing to Superman-like levels in 1940. This story also reveals that Dan Garret had a short-lived stint as an action hero in the 1960s; since he is a separate figure from Blue Beetle II, Garret probably operated under the name of the Human Fly. [Americomics #3]

E-Man and Michael Mauser battle the Psychobabbler, who is actually Dr. Elrod Flummox, leader of the Church of Technolography. [E-Man (First) #5]

May, 1983

The Sentinels of Justice return to battle the Manipulator (secretly a businessman named Jonathan Barrington Collingsworth, Jr., head of Cross Industries) and his team of hired criminals (Iron Arms, the Mad Men, Fiery-Icer, and the Banshee II). An unknown foe is, in turn, secretly controlling the Manipulator's mind. Note: This story establishes that the Sentinels of Justice have been operating as a team for a while now. Lt. Fisher is now Capt. Fisher in the Hub City Police Department. The Banshee II has vastly upgraded his flight suit by this time. [“Sentinels of Justice,” Americomics Special #1 (August, 1983)]

Scientist Dr. Ed Serch invents an experimental space environmental suit. After an accident while wearing it, his assistant Mac Rey becomes the electromagnetically super-powered action hero known as Static and has his first case. [Eclipse Monthly #1]

E-Man battles the Feeder (an extraterrestrial sentient pocket of energy like E-Man) and his costumed henchmen, all called Thoughtmaster. Michael Mauser takes on his 18-year-old nephew, Donald Duke, as an apprentice in the private eye business. [E-Man (First) #6-7]

June, 1983

A gang of crooked acrobats called the Flying Fiermonts (Robard Fiermont, his son Warren Fiermont, and his daughter Christine Fiermont) are freed after eight months in prison. When they refuse to work for Havoc Muggintore's syndicate, which had set them up, Muggintore has Robard's wife Donna, the mother of his children, killed in retaliation. The Fiermonts are then arrested by the police after Muggintore set them up once again. Meanwhile, Dr. Franklin Henney of Project Dragon has created the Dragon, an super-advanced ship meant for crimefighting purposes. When the Fiermonts escape police custody, they run to the roof and into the Dragon, which Henney pilots. Henney explains that whoever dons the three suits becomes telepathically linked to the Dragon and gains powers. The Fiermonts don the suits, and Henney activates them so that they become the Dragon Force, with code names Mindfire (Robard), Battleclaw (Warren), and Speedwing (Christine). In its single known case, the Dragon Force attacks Muggintore's fortress, and the criminal releases the giant, powerful beast-machine called the Devil's Organist. The Dragon Force destroys the Devil's Organist, but Muggintore escapes with several other monstrous weapons at his disposal. [Scary Tales #40]

July, 1983

E-Man battles Mad Wax, a man whose body was turned into a moving wax statue by an alien device. Mad Wax is destroyed, as is the alien device that transformed him. [E-Man (First) #8]

August, 1983

September, 1983

E-Man and Nova Kane rescue Donald Duke from the Hell's Hornets biker gang in Nova's home town of Barrentown, Pennsylvania. E-Man also battles Blacklung, who wears an atomic-powered, hydraulic exoskeleton and has the power to exhale large quantities of coal dust. Nova learns that Blacklung is her father, whom she thought long dead. Blacklung saves her life from a gigantic worm and dies. [E-Man (First) #10-11]

October, 1983

Static's last known case. [Ditko's World Featuring Static #3]

November, 1983

Tyger Lili escapes prison and captures E-Man, only to be betrayed by her allies Big Al (an intelligent mutant white humanoid alligator) and his alligator men. E-Man battles Gai-Tor, a giant alligator-shaped robot with laser-vision that goes on a rampage in New York City. Nova Kane takes a job with Megamedia Broadcasting in Chicago, Illinois, as the host of a kid's monster movie show. E-Man decides to move with her to Chicago. Note: Big Al is an obvious parody of Albert the Alligator from Walt Kelly's Pogo comic strip. [E-Man (First) #12]

December, 1983

On their way to Chicago, E-Man and Nova Kane stop in a town in Indiana, where they battle Chaos, prince of madness, and stop his plan to control the world and then the universe. E-Man briefly visits the interdimensional Cynosure. E-Man and Chaos agree to leave each other alone. Note: This story indicates that the events of First Comics' Warp series takes place on Earth-4. [E-Man (First) #13]

1984

January, 1984

In Chicago, Nova Kane begins working as the host of Nova's Chamber of Horrors, and she unconsciously uses her powers that she had thought were gone. In New York City, Michael Mauser and his nephew Donald Duke are attacked by the Battery (sent by Samuel Boar). [E-Man (First) #14]

The Scythe's last known case. [Ms. Tree #7]

February, 1984

In Chicago, E-Man and Michael Mauser battle Samuel Boar's super-powered henchmen, Photon (Christine) and Synapton (Max), and the Battery. After Synapton is killed by Boar, Photon rescues E-Man from the Battery. E-Man rescues Donald Duke, who is on a space shuttle in orbit around Earth. Nova briefly uses her powers again to save Mauser. E-Man and company stop Samuel Boar's plans to monopolize the sun, which would potentially begin World War III. Mauser stays in Chicago for a few months to recuperate, leaving Donald temporarily in charge at his New York detective agency. [E-Man (First) #15-16]

April, 1984

With the help of his pet, Teddy Q, E-Man rescues a group of green-colored, elflike extraterrestrials called the Smelts from being exploited by a television producer using Kitty Pron (the 14-year-old former F-Men member named Airhead) in green paint as bait. [E-Man (First) #17]

May, 1984

A 14-year-old girl named Rosemary Bennett uses a time machine to travel back to the year 1984, where she meets E-Man. The two travel to different points in Chicago's history – 1968, 1929, and 1871 – before returning to the 30th century. There, the Transdimensional Police, Time Division, give E-Man the time machine to return to 1984, knowing he will use it responsibly. [E-Man (First) #18]

June, 1984

Michael Mauser sets up a temporary detective agency in Chicago, hoping to stay just long enough to convince E-Man to return to New York with him. E-Man and Nova Kane battle zombies. [E-Man (First) #19]

July, 1984

On his first solo case, Donald Duke (apprentice private eye at Mauser Detective Agency) is hired by Mr. Z of the B Team (Tamerlane Jones, Mr. Z, Fake, and Moonrock) to find the Golden Gopher (Moonrock), a costumed lunatic briefly operating as a so-called crimefighter in Monroe, Minnesota. E-Man absorbs the impact and radiation from a uranium mine explosion caused by the incredibly lucky B Team, who remain unharmed. Note: The B Team is Earth-4's version of the A-Team, a 1983 NBC television series. The Golden Gopher is Earth-4's version of the Badger, published by Capitol Comics and First Comics. [E-Man (First) #20-21]

October, 1984

Alfie Alcott (former criminal associate of Samuel Boar) seeks the help of E-Man and Teddy Q for a case in Australia. There, E-Man meets the super-powered Australian action hero named Kid Kanga and his sidekick, Boomer (a kangaroo). Together, they battle the costumed villainess Marsupial Mama and her Tasmanian Devillettes, a trio of costumed villainesses. After E-Man is dissolved in a chemical vat, Teddy Q gains energy-based super-powers from his atoms and becomes Captain Koala, defeating Marsupial Mama before restoring E-Man to life, thereby removing his Captain Koala powers. Meanwhile, Donald Duke shuts down the Mauser Detective Agency office in New York and helps his uncle Michael Mauser permanently relocate to Chicago. [E-Man (First) #22]

December, 1984

E-Man stops the latest plan of Big Al to take over the world by using toy Gai-Tor robots to be shipped for Christmas, and each has a team of allies fighting with them. Fighting with Big Al are Randarr the Inexplicable, Ford Fairmont and the F-Men (Zitpops, Clodhoppus, Slimesquirmer, and the Weasel), and a new version of the Battery. Fighting with E-Man are Photon, Kid Kanga, Tyger Lili, Santa Claus and the Smelts, and the B Team. [E-Man (First) #23]

February, 1985

Michael Mauser is almost killed while on a case that causes him to recall how he became a private detective. [E-Man (First) #24]

May, 1985

For the first time in his existence, E-Man takes a life when he accidentally kills an armed robber. Deeply discouraged, he leaves civilization to contemplate leaving Earth forever and settles in the South Pacific, where he finds peace for a few weeks until he must fight several living Polynesian gods. Nova Kane tracks him down to bring him back to Chicago. Note: Sometime after this story, the two rekindle their romance. [E-Man (First) #25]

July, 1985

Sarge Steel heads a new division of CHESS called Checkmate, which acts to monitor all metahuman activity.

July 14: Harbinger recruits Blue Beetle III along with heroes and villains from Earth-1 and Earth-2 to meet the Monitor. Harbinger disperses the gathered heroes throughout time to protect the Monitor's vibrational tuning forks. Blue Beetle III, Dr. Polaris, and Geo-Force travel to Earth-1's Markovia during WWII and battle shadow demons alongside Easy Company, the Haunted Tank Crew, and the Losers. Blue Beetle III is wounded and returned to present day Earth-4 on July 17, three days after he left. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-3]

July 26: Red skies and stormy weather appear on Earth-4. Anti-Monitor, using Psycho-Pirate II's emotion-manipulating powers, causes the heroes and population of Earth-4 to feel uncontrollable fear. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #6]

The gods give Johnny Mann his powers back, and he becomes Son of Vulcan once more. [“Sentinels of Justice: The Calm Before the Storm, Chapter 1: Son of Vulcan”]

David Crandall (the former Nature Boy) regains his memories and becomes Nature Man once more. Note: In retaliation, the twelve Masters of the Elements who created him and later caused his amnesia at this time grant powers to twelve other humans, who become the super-assassins Blue Bolt, Ariel, Pyra, Terror Firma, Ice Queen, Aquatic, Susie Cyclone, and others. Nature Man evades them alone for some months, managing to destroy six of them himself during that period. [“The Natural: Masters of the Elements”]

July 29: Antimatter appears on Earth-4, followed by time warps that last until the five Earths are combined. Judomaster (Rip Jagger) is transported from 1945 to 1985 through a time warp. The Sentinels of Justice travels to the American West to investigate the antimatter cloud. There, the fear-driven team battles Azrael, Blok, Flash of Earth-2, Katana, and Martian Manhunter. Earth-4 is drawn into a protective netherverse along with Earth-X and Earth-S, joining Earth-1 and Earth-2. The red skies and antimatter storms end. Note: Rip Jagger spends the next year and a half getting acquainted with modern times before becoming a U.S. agent in early 1987. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #6; “Judomaster: Mozambique: Situation Critical”]

Nova Kane's powers return.

July 30: Pariah, Alex Luthor, and Harbinger gather a representative group of super-heroes from each Earth. Harbinger explains the origin of the Multiverse. The Sentinels of Justice discuss the Crisis. Harbinger's group of heroes (including Captain Atom) battles the Anti-Monitor; Supergirl dies. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #7]

July 31: Super-heroes (including Blue Beetle III) and the people of Earth-1 mourn Supergirl. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #7]

Thunderbunny dies, but his other self Bobby Caswell lives. [speculation]

E-Man and Nova Kane are married and leave Earth for a six-month honeymoon in space.

August, 1985

August 1: Brainiac gathers villains from five worlds (including the Banshee, Doctor Spectro, the Ghost, the Image, the Madmen, Major Force, Punch and Jewelee, and the Squids) aboard his ship. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #9]

August 2: Super-villains conquer Earth-4, Earth-X, and Earth-S. Brainiac imprisons the three Earths with a dimensional barrier. Earth-4 is subjected to fire, particularly a huge chemical fire on the surface of New York Harbor. Brainiac issues his challenge to the super-heroes, all on Earth-1 and Earth-2. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #9]

August 3: Heroes penetrate Brainiac's dimensional barrier and travel to Earths X, S, and 4 to battle Brainiac's horde of villains. The New Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol battle the villains on Earth-4. Shaggy Man and Chemo are destroyed. Liberty Belle is murdered. Spectre stops the fighting and explains to everyone the Anti-Monitor's plan to travel to the dawn of time and change history. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #9-10; “Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Villain War”]

August 4: Heroes (including the Sentinels of Justice and Judomaster) and villains gather at Earth-1's Death Valley. Heroes travel to the dawn of time to face down the Anti-Monitor. Spectre, fueled by the spirits of the super-heroes, manages to marginally thwart Anti-Monitor's plans to eliminate all universes but the negative-matter universe. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #10]

August 5: One positive-matter universe is born. Remaining heroes (including Blue Beetle III and Peacemaker) gather at Titans Tower. Harbinger briefly explains the new history of the single combined universe. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #11]

Anti-Monitor draws the combined Earth into the antimatter universe. Harbinger begins gathering heroes to battle Anti-Monitor. Shadow demons infest Earth, battling heroes around the world. Harbinger sends Earth's most powerful heroes (including Captain Atom) into final battle with the Anti-Monitor. Remaining heroes fight shadow demons on Earth. Mystical heroes meet and bond their energies together to form a magic-based attack on the Anti-Monitor. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #11]

The Sensational Sentinels reunite one last time before retiring for good and handing their special devices over to Sarge Steel.

Tetsuro “Tiger” Tanaka, now 54 years old, becomes Judomaster II for the last time.

Heroes attack the Anti-Monitor. Mystical heroes gather and contain the shadows and taint them with magical energy. Heroes down the Anti-Monitor for the first time; Anti-Monitor reabsorbs all the shadow demons for extra power. Superman of Earth-2 destroys the Anti-Monitor. [Crisis on Infinite Earths #12]

August 6: Memorial services begin for Earth's fallen heroes. The Crisis over, Shazam separates the combined Earth into five Earths once more: Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-S, Earth-X, and Earth-4. Five Monitors are chosen for each Earth: Alexander Luthor for Earth-2, Harbinger for Earth-1, Shazam for Earth-S, Uncle Sam for Earth-X, and Son of Vulcan for Earth-4.

Lt. Tuck Pendleton, USAF pilot, disappears near Tungushkaya, Siberia, after the SR-71 Blackbird he is flying cracks apart. The Soviets recover the damaged body of Pendleton, who suffers brain damage from the crash, and after a few weeks Zastrow of the Soviet Superpowers Project successfully rebuilds him into the Soviet cyborg super-agent known as Svarog. [“Sentinels of Justice: Watching the World, Prologue: Project Svarog”; “Sentinels of Justice: Superpowers, Prologue: Ground Control to Major Tom”]

[“Sentinels of Justice: The Calm Before the Storm”]

The gods of Mt. Olympus appoint Son of Vulcan as the overseer of the world, Earth-4's Monitor.

Nightshade makes a failed attempt to rescue her brother Larry from the Incubus in the Land of the Nightshades. Her body is saved by the Mysterious Traveler and her soul by Phantom Lady. The funeral of Caroline Dean (Liberty Belle) is held.

The Mysterious Traveler asks Son of Vulcan to reunite the Sentinels of Justice. The team meets for the first time after the Crisis to battle (with secret assistance by Black Fury III and Street Hawk) a group of super-powered thieves from the future, and this experience convinces them to begin actively protecting the world again on a regular basis.

Michael Mauser, private eye, is rescued from criminals by the Peacemaker, who earlier escaped from being killed in an explosion while on a case in West Germany. The two team up to capture the Weapon, hired by the arms dealers called the Mars Council. [“Michael Mauser, Private Eye: War and Peacemaker”]

Mac Rey (Static) and Fera Serch, now engaged to be married, discuss their nuptials with a wedding planner named Lemuel Toadkin, the same man who planned the wedding of Ted Kord and Tracey Simmons in 1973. [“Blue Beetle: The Wedding Planner”]

In Japan, an eleven-year-old boy genius named Akira Moto discovers the android body of Volton II (thanks to some help from the Mysterious Traveler) and discovers how to control it. [“Sentinels of Justice: Fantastic Giants, Chapter 2: Volton, Defender of Japan”]

December, 1985

The Paragons, a loose-knit team of European action-heroes, is formed. [“The Paragons: Deus Ex Astra”]

1986

January, 1986

Dr. Tetsuo Moto attacks the Sentinels of Justice, LAW, the Peacemaker, and the Dragon Force. Then the Sentinels of Justice protect Cuba, and LAW protects Japan, from giant monsters created by Dr. Moto. E-Man and Nova Kane return from their six-month honeymoon throughout the solar system and help Volton III and LAW protect Japan. [“Sentinels of Justice: Fantastic Giants”]

[“Secret Origins: The People Versus Major Force”]

February, 1986

David Crandall gives up his Nature Man powers to Kate McCormick, who becomes the super-powered action heroine known as the Natural. [“The Natural: Masters of the Elements”]

[“Sentinels of Justice: Dragon's Den”]

March, 1986

April, 1986

Michael “Booster” Carter and the security robot Skeets travel back in time from the 30th century (using Hap Holliday's time-yacht) while wearing a power-suit that he modifies. He has his first adventure as the action hero Booster Gold and meets Blue Beetle III, who becomes his friend. [“Sentinels of Justice: Superpowers, Book Two”]

After the Sentinels of Justice save the Project X orbiting space satellite from Soviet agents, the U.S. government grants the satellite to the team. The Sentinels spend the next few months transforming it into their new headquarters. Three new members join the Sentinels of Justice: Liberty Belle II (Candy Dean), Guardian II (originally called Sentinel), and Lady Quark (Tashana) from Earth-6. [“Sentinels of Justice: Superpowers, Book Two”]

May, 1986

June, 1986

Rei Suzaki, a young Japanese-American woman, becomes the action heroine known as the Joker in Central City. [“Earth-4 Premiere: The Joker: Madmen and an Annoyed Woman”]

July, 1986

After a three-month publicity campaign, Booster Gold has become a famous hero with endorsement contracts and movie parts. Booster Gold joins the Sentinels of Justice at Blue Beetle III's invitation. [“Sentinels of Justice: Superpowers, Book Two, Epilogue: Three Months Later”]

August, 1986

August 6: Two weeks before this date, an anthropologist named Don Johnston studying a newly discovered Indian tribe in South America, ingests a potion that gives him visions of the future in which the world is destroyed by fire on August 6, 1986. When the date comes and goes without incident, Johnston is relieved. On that same date, the planet Sondu eighty light years away is destroyed in the same way as Johnston's visions. Note: This story, published in 1960, takes place in 1986 in the regular Earth-4 timeline, since there are no world-changing events causing it to be an alternate timeline. [“The Incredible Visions,” Strange Suspense Stories (Charlton) #50]

Booster Gold battles Agent Broderick of the Transdimensional Police, Time Division, from his native era of the 30th century, who believes Booster Gold will eventually become the tyrant Monarch in a few decades. Booster Gold convinces Agent Broderick to let him remain in the 20th century for now. [“Sentinels of Justice: Atomic Nightmare, Chapter 3: Booster Gold in Time Cop”]

December, 1986

1987

January, 1987

Rip Hunter takes on his first assignment as a special agent since arriving in this time. As Judomaster, he investigates reports of a strange monster rampaging along the border of South Africa and Mozambique, receiving the assistance of Soviet action-hero the Huntsman and the Chinese mercenery known as the Huntress. After learning that the monster is actually a group of monsters being bred from the DNA of Gorgo by aliens, Judomaster is accidentally teleported to an unknown destination. Captain Atom vows to find Judomaster. [“Judomaster: Mozambique: Situation Critical”]

February, 1987

The Shape joins the Sentinels of Justice. The Sentinels investigate the disappearance of Judomaster. [“Sentinels of Justice: War of Shadows and Light”]

March, 1987

[“Sentinels of Justice: Panic and the Pantheon”]

April, 1987

[“Sentinels of Justice: Another Crisis on Earth-Four”]

The New Mystery Men, a low-profile team of action-heroes, is formed in Detroit, Michigan. Note: This team is unaffiliated with the original Mystery Men team that operated during World War II. [“The New Mystery Men: A League of Their Own”]

May, 1987

[“Captain Atom: The Sleep of Adam”]

[“THUNDER Agents: Reactivation”]

1996

April 7: A world war is narrowly averted and a new wave of world peace begins. [Charlton Bullseye #5]

1998

As part of a wider exploration of the Solar system, Expedition Exp-3, led by Captain Scott, reaches Mars and discovers the ruins of a city undetected by previous probes. There, Commander Benson falls into a cavern and is rescued by his crew members. Unfortunately, on the shuttle as it leaves Mars, Benson is discovered to have a parasitic creature on his head, which transfers itself to another crew member. It then goes after Scott, leaving only Roberts, who tells the crew of a space station between Earth and Mars of the situation. After the creature attacks Roberts, he presses the self-destruct button, killing him and the creature. [“Cavern of the Brain-Eaters,” Charlton Bullseye v2 #3]